Home > How it helps

How your money helps

A message from Carlos Caldas, Director of the Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit.

“First the good news – more people than ever are surviving breast cancer thanks to early diagnosis and improved treatment. But there is of course much more we can do, and your donations will help us continue the momentum at the Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit. Every year, 40,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer, and around 20% of them will die. We are working to reduce this percentage still further by developing different and more selective types of treatment. Our research uses molecular bar codes to improve the way we sort cancers into different groups that will then require different treatment. The bar codes are obtained by studying in the laboratory the genes that are present in breast cancer cells. These bar codes will enable us to develop new diagnostic tests and select the best treatment for each individual patient.”

Case studies

Real people, real stories. The work of the Cambridge Breast Unit and the Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit touches the lives of so many people from around the country. Here is just a small selection of their stories. 

• Barbara Urquhart
• Peggy Rose
• Christine Davies
• Janette Martin

Barbara Urquhart

Barbara Urquhart's 10 year old grandson, Calum, wrote the following story about her for a school project. He was asked to write about something or someone who inspires him and he has respect for.

“My grannie has always been a happy, positive person but when she got cancer, that all could have changed. For two or three years she had been doing walks for cancer. Little did she know she would be diagnosed. When she got cancer we were all shocked. We didn't expect it at all but in the end she did pull through and I will tell you how.

It started off well when she was put in Cambridge University Hospitals with a good, experienced doctor. When she had an operation we were still all positive. The operation was called a mastectomy and she also had to have lymph glands removed under her arm. She was very happy that the operation was successful and she was okay.

I have a special respect for my grannie. I think she was very positive throughout the whole experience. Every four or so days we would visit her to keep her spirits up and all of her family and friends were there at some time or another. She never gave up and that is a big reason of why she pulled through.

The operation took twelve hours and she spent much longer in hospital. After she did get out of hospital she had quite a long time recovering at home. Unfortunately her arm was damaged by the lymph glands been taken out - it affected her nerves and she can not lift heavy things with that arm and will permanently have no feeling at all in one part of her arm.
Her goal was to get over the operation and get back to walking and within eleven months she did the half marathon moon walk at midnight. Because of this she was in the newspapers and on the radio. GOAL ACHIEVED!!!”

Peggy Rose

Peggy was 60 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago. She attended the Cambridge Breast Unit for a routine mammogram and two weeks later she received a call asking for her to return for another mammogram and ultrasound; Peggy needed to have a mastectomy on her left breast and a lump removed from her right breast.

Things moved very quickly after that and the time from diagnosis to treatment was just three weeks.

Peggy considers herself very lucky that the cancer was caught at this stage despite initial worries about what to tell her family. She said: “The Breast Unit has been absolutely brilliant to me. The staff are so supportive. Even though they are very busy they act like they have all the time in the world to help you, even the doctors. It makes you feel special.”

Three months after Peggy’s operation she started radiotherapy treatment, which took place everyday for three weeks, although she describes each treatment as being “very, very quick”. Since the treatment was completed Peggy has taken medication every day and re-visits the Cambridge Breast Unit annually for a mammogram on her right side. However, this doesn’t worry Peggy as she likes to pop in and have a chat with the staff there who continue to support her.

Peggy has a close family and with the support of her husband, son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren and friends and neighbours, Peggy quickly got back into her usual routine.
Despite having some side-effects from the medication and feeling tired went straight back to the job she enjoyed working as a part-time accounts manager for a garage. Now retired, Peggy loves being out in the garden and finds that doing cross-stitch is great therapy.
 
Peggy is very grateful to the Cambridge Breast Unit for the care and support she continues to receive. Peggy says that she is feeling good in herself. “It’s a case of not letting anything get you down. I’m very, very lucky. Routine mammograms are the best thing since sliced bread. Even after they told me what they had found it was so small I couldn’t feel anything unusual, so it would have been a long time before I would have noticed.  I would encourage every woman to go to their routine mammogram,” she said.

Christine Davies

Christine Davies was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976, aged just 35.  On hearing the news Christine said: “The first thing I thought of was ‘cancer, death; I shall never see my children grow up’.” Christine’s husband was very supportive and her fighting nature came to the forefront as she said she decided she could not wallow. “I just got on with it,” she said.
Following a mastectomy and subsequent radiotherapy treatment at a London hospital near where she lived at the time, Christine went back to her teaching job and had a little boy with her army officer husband who eventually took a posting in Cyprus. She was able to lead a normal life for the next thirty years. Christine did have check-ups every month at first, then every six months, then once a year for five years. However, despite her bravery, the fortnight before she was due for a check-up Christine would become apprehensive and feel aches and pains in anticipation of what the results would be.

Christine says that reconstruction surgery did not cross her mind. Instead she wore a prosthetic breast and describes herself as feeling like a pantomime dame at the time. But despite this her fighting spirit prevailed as she insisted on wearing a bikini on the beach by her home in Cyprus.

Then, three years ago after she had returned to the UK to live in Cambridge, she found little lumps at the base of her remaining breast. To be on the safe side she had her breast examined at the Cambridge Breast Unit (CBU) and found it would have to be removed. Christine did not require radiotherapy treatment this time following her mastectomy, but was put straight onto medication. Now once a year she attends the CBU for a check-up. She describes her treatment as being fantastic saying: “Everybody was wonderful.”
Two weeks after her operation Christine went back to work as a company manager of The Young Actors Company in Cambridge. Christine’s job is full time, night and day, but she wholly enjoys it. “Being with kids keeps you feeling young and healthy,” she said.

Christine says “I feel lucky. I feel like I’m an ambassador for people diagnosed with cancer. It is dreaded by so many people and I want to show others that if this happens to you, you’ll cope with it as well. So I am more than happy to support the Pink Rose Valentine’s Appeal to raise funds for breast cancer research.”

Janette Martin

At age 47 Janette Martin, of Royston, found lumps under her arms. She was referred to the Cambridge Breast Unit a week later and found that her cancer was difficult to diagnose. After a day of tests – a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsies, she was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes, which had initially come from the breast.

Janette was very shocked to hear her diagnosis but says the support she and her family received at the unit was outstanding: “The whole experience at the Breast Unit was first class. From nurses to surgeons, there was a massive support network there. My support nurse was amazing. She has been my lifeline and become my friend. Without her I don’t know how I would have got through. She is a very special part of my life.”

Janette had surgery to remove the tumours, seven months of chemotherapy treatment and three weeks of radiotherapy and is now back doing the things she enjoys such as looking after her dogs and helping run a local cub pack.

She said: “You have two choices in life: either get on with it or allow it to take over. Try to embrace life and get on with it. No one knows what tomorrow is going to bring. I am pleased to support the Pink Rose Valentine’s Appeal and help raise money for the fantastic service that is still supporting me today.”

The Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit

The Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit, which opened in July 2008, works closely with the Cambridge Breast Unit to help provide the most effective diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer patients.

The Pink Rose Valentine’s Appeal hopes to continue the success of the Pink Rose Dinner appeal – an idea created by Louise Sunderland, which ran for five years and raised over £300,000 towards building and equipping the Cambridge Breast Cancer Research Unit – to fund research in this very special unit to help all patients like Barbara, Peggy, Christine and Janette.